South much younger than the north, and north east older than the west.

The median age, the point at which half of the population is younger and half is older, was 34 in the Republic, the lowest of any EU member state. The median age in Northern Ireland, while higher at 37, was also comfortably lower than the EU average of 41.

“The highest median age can be seen in eastern areas of Northern Ireland, in particular in Ards, Castlereagh, Larne and North Down at 41. The lowest median age of 31 was found in Galway City,” the report states.

Children aged up to 12 years accounted for 19 per cent of the population of Ireland, compared to 17 per cent in Northern Ireland, which the report says reflected higher birth rates in Ireland in recent years. Over 65s accounted for 15 per cent of Northern Ireland’s population, compared with 12 per cent of that in the Republic.

On another level, despite having the NHS and the south in permanent civil war over free GP cards crises in A&E and underdevelopment, they feel more healthy that we do…

It found the proportion of those in the Republic who considered their health to be good or very good (62 per cent and 61 per cent of males and females respectively) was considerably higher than in the North (49 per cent and 47 per cent of males and females respectively).

At the opposite end of the scale, a total of 102,100 (5.6 per cent) persons in Northern Ireland felt that their health was bad or very bad compared with 69,700 (1.6 per cent) in Ireland, which the report said indicated very different perceptions of poor health between the jurisdictions.

The differences seem to be much greater than the differential in age profiles, so something makes us feel more unhappy about our health and wellbeing…